Apparatus for tempering blades.



R. T.W1NN`L` APPARATUS FOR TEMlBRIN'G BLADES. APPLICATION FILED .TUNE28, 1909.

1,121,884. Patented Dec. 22, 1914.

y,s SHEETS-sum1'.

" w I t @Menem R. T. WINN. APBARATUS FOR TEMPBRING BLADES.

APPLIoAT'oN FILED JUNE 2a, 1909. i'

Patented Dec. 22

1914. asHElnTs-SHET s.'

R. T. WINN.

APPARATUS PR TEMPBRING BLADES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28, 1909.

Patented pee. 22, 1914;

a SHEETS-SHEET a.

' UNTE sfrarns rn ouh-ICE LESLIE, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR TEM-PERING BLADES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec. 22, 1914;.

Application filed June 28, 1909. Serial No. 504,68

T all whom it may concern ,Y ,K

Be it known that I, RICHARD T. VVINN, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Cliftondale, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts,have invented an Improvement in Apparatus for Tempering Blades, of whichthe following description, in connec- A tion with the accompanyingdrawing, 1s a blades must be tempered in order to bring them to thereqmsite degree of hardness,

such tempering being effected heating the blades to the necessarytemperature and suddenly cooling them. Heretofore consid erable troublehas been experienced in tempering such blades because of the rapidformation of scale thereupon, and the warping or twisting of the',blades when subjected to the action of the heat necessary to raise theirtemperature to the proper point for hardening., The scale deposited mustbe' removed, and frequently the blades have been Warped to such anextent as to require considerable manipulation to vstraighten them, bothoperations increasing the cost of manufacture.

Furthermore', it has been found difficult to e temper economically andcommercially a large number of blades uniformly, the' means fortemperingnow in vogue frequently resulting in Wide variations in the hardness ofagiven lot of blades treated.

My present invention has for its obje'ctthe production of temperingapparatus so con structed and arranged that each blade treated'shallbetempered andhardened uni-v formly with respect to other blades, with theelimination of scale formation on the blades, and obv'iating any warpingor twisting of the blades during the treatment.

I have so constructed. the apparatusemblades areA presented'-automatically to the heating `chamber, and in the latter each bodying mypresent invention that' thev blade is retained a. predetermined periodof time and then released and passed to the cooling means.

During the tected from the direct yaction of the flame and from theaction of air, While at the same time it issubjected on both sides touniform heat, thereby preventing` thelformation of scale and obviatingwarping or bending.

The operation of the apparatus is automatic throughout, the onlyvmanualoperation required being that necessary to replenish from time totime the hopper `or magazine from which the blades are fed automaticallyand one by oneto the heater.

These and other novel features of my invention will' be fully describedin the subjoined specification and particularly pointed out in thefol-lowing claims.

Figure l is a front elevation of al tempering apparatus embodying onepractical formof my present invention, the movable member of thecoolingr means being elevated in readiness to act upon the next heatedblade presented thereto; Fig. 2 is a lefthand side elevation of theapparatus illustrated in F ig. 1, and showing more clearly the coolingmeans and the mechanism for operatingthe movable member thereof;.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged .Vertical sectional de tail, on the line 3--3,Fig.l 2, of the magazine for the blades and the transferrer by whichheating of a blade it ils prosaid blades are removed oneby one from .the

magazine, the transferrer being shown in elevation and 1n 1ts elevatedpositlon; Fig. 4

.is a top 4plan view, with the top broken out,

of the heating means 4for 4the blades; Fig.v 5 is a vertical sectionaldetail of the heating means, on the line 5 5, Fig.4; Fig.` 6 is a sideelevation' of a portion ofthe operating mechanism which controls thetransferrer and the escape ofthe heated 'blade frornthe heating means,to 'show more -clearly the controlling cams, to be referred'. to; Fig. 7

is an enlarged transverse section, on the line 77, Fig. l, of one of themembers of the.

blade-cooling means; Fig. 8 isan enlarged plan view of one of the blankso'r blades to be'treated. l

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, a heavy basel A hais rigidly secured to it astrong upright standard B having an attached bracket C1105v at its upperend for=supporting the maga- Crt the slots '3 of the side walls.

steel, and is substantially rectangular, hav-- ing notches b inits'opposite ends, .though the' particular structure of the blade is notimportant so far as my present invention is concerned.

1n the present embodiment of my inven tion'v the magazine -t'or theblades comprises a horizontal bottom 1 and upright, parallel side walls2, longitudinally slottedat 3, and said bottom and Walls areconveniently made as 'a casting projecting laterally from an uprightback t suitably attached to the bracket C. Said back is provided with anupright guideway 5,. Fig. 3, for the reception of a vertically movabletransferrer 6, having lateral ribs 7 to enter grooves, as .8, Fig. 3, inthe guideway, the outer face of the transferrer being recessed at 9 toform a seat for the reception of a blade.

The blades b are placed in the magazine on end, and face to face, asshown in Fig, 3,.

the internal dimensions of the magazine being such as to readilyaccommodate a seriesof the blades, the leading blade entering the seat9, as shown, when the transfer-rer isv raised.

r A hinged lid 10 closes the top of the magazine -when the apparatus isin use, and ,the cuter end of said magazine is closed by a slidingrectangular block 1.1 constituting a follower, said follower havingtransverse ears 12 notched to enter Streu(T spiral springs 13 areattached atl their outer ends to the earsand at their inner ends areii'xed at lfl to the sides of the upright back 4, the

springs acting to pressthe follower againstl thelast blade of the seriesinthe magazine and. to feed theseries forward each timel the transferrer6 rises, in order to push theleading blade into the seat 9.` Cross-barsl5 on the back ft assist in retaining the transferrer in itsguidewaygthe latter being filled by the transferrer, so that theadmission of air to other parts of the apparatus is practicallyprevented. lV ien the' transferrer is moved downward from its positionshown in Fig. 3 it carries with .it the single blade in ther seatl 9,and part of the transferrer above such seat then. se as a stop for thenext blade of the ser n the magazine, pressed sgainst the transfeifer bythe. springs 13.

any Way.

meines guiding the ears 12 when the. follower is drawn out to its limit.A short link 16 pivn otally connects the upper end of the transferrerwith one end of a rocking 'lever 17 fulcrumed at 18 on thepstandard B,the opposite end of said lever having pivoted to it a depending liftingrod 19, 4attached at its lower-end to a rocking arm 20, Figs. 1 and 6,having a, roll 21 adapted to bear against the edge of Ia controlling cam22, the 1 transferrer being. depressed at the proper time by a strongspring 23, Fig. 1.

' At each revolution of the transferrer cam 22 the transferrer is firstelevated into pei-- sition to receive in its seat 9 a blade from theseries-ofblades in the magazine, and then the cam per-mits the spring 23to depress said transferrer and carry the seated blade down below thebottom of the maga zine and discharge it into the lower, throat-- low,narrow channel 27 formed in its inner face and preferably flared at 28,Figs. l and 5,atits inlet end.

When the twoblocks are bolted together a narrow passage is thus formedextending from end to end, theheater being massive in its dimensionsrelative to the size of the object to be heated, to wit, theblade, itsgreat. mass of metal providing for the retention of a high degree oftemperature with great uniformity and unaffected by the entrancethereinto of successive blades from the magazine.

The passage 27- is ust large enough to adlmit a blade to traverse it endforemost, so that when the blade is at itsteinporary stopping' point inthe passage'it will be practically surrounded by highly heated metal yetcompletely excluded from the actionof air, and :Lathe-temperature isuniform at all portions ofthe blade there is no tendency thereof towarp, twist or become distorted in The heater is set up on end in adrumlike heating chamber 29, preferably made of firebricl-or otherrefractory material, inclosed in a casing 30 of metal, the bottom of thecasing resting on the bracket l), cover or top 31 of asbestos .or othersuitable material closing th-e chamber, and as shown herein the upperend of the heater projects somewhat thrdugh the cover, and is late:-ally .supported thereby.

Une of the heater-members, 26., has a lateral hole 32 lbored through itto intersect the passage L?? somewhat below' the center thereof, toreceive a. longitudinally movable blade-arrester 38, which is `fittedto`slide in a metallic tube or jacket 34, Figs. 4 and 5, screwed intothe member 26 and passed through -a suitable hole in the side Wall ofthe heating chamber, and then through the Y standard B, the latterbeingshapedto part .way around the heating chamber.

An apertured cap 85 closes the outer -end of the tube and lits snuglyaround the bladearrester, which latter has mounted .on it separated nutsor collars-36 to receive be-r tween theni the forked end of a bell-crank37 fulcrumed at 38 on the said standard, a

spring 39, Fig. 1, acting upon the bell-crank to operatively positionthe inner end of the blade-arrester across the passage 27, as shown inFig. 5. l l

The bell-crank is connected by a link 40 with a rocking arm 41, Figs. 1and 6, having roll 42 to coperate with a tappet-cam 43,

the arms 4l and 20 being fulcrumed at 4l on the base A of the apparatusand the tappet-cam 43 and transferrer-cam 22 being tixedly mounted on ashaft rotatably mounted in suitable bearings on said base.

At each revolutionof the tappet-cam the blade-arrester is withdrawn fromthe blade passage 27 in the heater and then returned .heater tooperative position, the Withdrawal permitting a -blade supported by saidbladearrester to drop do-wn to the lower end. of the passage and outthrough an opening 46, Fig. 5, in the bottom of the heating chamber,into the upper end otl a closed or tubemetrically opposite each otherandl in parallelism, so that the flame or gases in combustion within thechamber has a rotary or revciberatory motion about the central As saidheater is thereby encompassed byfflames or gases in combustion it isheated to a high temperature, but `manifestly the vproducts ofAcombustionl cannot enter the blade passage 27 norcan they at' any timecome in contact with a blade in such passage. This, with the practicalshut'.

ting oti of air from said passage, prevents the formation of scale' onthe blades, and the latter cannot become burned or otherwise damaged bycontact With the products ot combustion in the chamber 29, a veryimportant feat-ure of the invention.

When a blade passes from the transferrer to the heater it is arrested bythe bladearrester 3Q and is supported thereby in the hottest part of theheater for a suiiicient length yof time to be itself raised to therequisite hardening temperature, say about ten seconds, and this heatedblade is then released automatically' and passes through the raceway 47to the cooling means.

The burners are connected with outside pipes 49, cach in communicationwith other pipes 30, :31, Fig. 2, leading from supplies of combustiblegas -and air under pressure, to form a. highly inflammable mixture, andso far as my invention is concernedv it is not restricted to anyparticular form or character of means for raising the temperature in theheatingl chamber 29; Provided the heater having the inclosedblade-passage'is heated 'tov the proper temperature from its exteriorsuch rise in temperature can be effected Aby any desired andsuitablemeans, though I have illustra-ted one very eiiicient andsatisfactory means for that purpose.

After the hot blade enters the closed racevvay 47, which 'is inclinedfrom the bottom of the heating chamber to the fixed member or anvil ofthe cooling means, the blade is protected from the outside air until itslides through the narrow outlet ormouth 52 of said raceivay, Fig. 1',and drops onto the flat top of the anvil, shown herein as a hollowcasting fixed on the bed E andA cooled by Water circulated therethroughby means rof suitable pipes 54, 55.

The anvil is made large and heavy-relatively to theI size of the blade,and it isstrong enough .to resist the impact of the blow `delivered bythe movable member or hammer 56 of the cooling/means, made as a .hollowblock-like casting and kept cool b'y water circulation by means offlexible pipesattached to nipples 57, 58 leading into the interior ofthey hammer, Fig. 7.

The hammer is attached to or forms part 'of an upright rectangular stem59v fitted to slide in a vertical guide 60 forming partfof a heavy standF bolted securely on the bed E, face-plates 61 retaining the stem in theguide. A hammer-lifting lever 62 is fulcrumed at-63 on the stand to rockin a plane parallel to and in front of the path of movement of thehammer stem, the latter being provided' with a suitable roll 64 whichoverhangs and is adapted to be engaged and liftedby the part 65 of theleverV 62, see

Fig. 2.

ed to engage and rest upon a latch 67 mounted to slide horizontally in aguide 68 mounted on the stand F, as shown in Fig. 2, said latch beingmoved into operative position, illustrated, by a spring 69, and arrestedby a detent 70 engaging the edge ot the adjacent face-plate 61.

'lhe litting lever 62 is provided Witha depending arm7lconstituting areleasing device -:"or said latch, the arm being. arranged to engage pin72 projecting from the he stem has secured to it a stop 66 adapt- I isonel...

l ing provided with a pulley 76 to receive a suitable driving beltactuated from any suitable source of powei (not shown). Said with asprocket *i9 shaft has also an attached sprocket 77, Fig. 2, connectedby vasprocket-ch'ain 78 fast on the camshaft 45, to drive the latter.The hammerstenr-Q has a prolongation 80 provided `with an oll'set head8l to which is attached the upper end of a powerful hammer-depressingspring S2, the lowerend of which is attached to the longer arm of thelifting lever 62. l/Vhen'said lever is rocked to depress its longer armthe spring 82 .is thereby flut under tension, and as the f levercontinues to rockfthe trip 7l engages the pin 72'and withdraws the latch67 yfrom beneath the stop 66, thereby releasing the hammer-stem, andthespring 82 contracts, .and moves the-hammer 56 down to deliver asharp,'.heavy blow upon the anvil 53 and upon a blade thereupon. 'Afterthe hammer-blow has been deliveredthe rotation of 'shagl't` 75 causesthe link Z3 to rock the lever 62 iii the opposite direction and the part65 is brought into engagement with the roll 64 and the hammer is therebylifted, ,the trip 7l moving,I away from 'the latch-pin 72, so that assoon 'as the stop 6G rises to the position shown in Fig. 2 the spring G9expands and projects the ylatch G7 into lockingposition beneath thestop, locking the hammer in elevated position until again released.

lt will be understood that the blade being 'heated in the heater will bereleased by withdrawal of' the stop' 33 justbefore thelit'ted hammer isreleased, ,the hot blade slidingdown the raceway 47 and shooting fromthe mouth 52 thereof` onto the a.nv il 53 an instant before the hammerdescends and acts with a spanking blow upon the blade. This quick, sharpimpact of the cold hammer upon the hot blade, acts in connection withthe cold anvil, to suddenly cool the blade, which is therebytempered tothe requisite degree er hardness.l 'As the blade is'com- .pressedbetween the two cold members 53, 56 it .is equally cooled on oppositesides, the timing of the blow being such that it acts practicallysimultaneously with the po' sitioning of the hot blade. on the lanvil,

vso that there is no opportunity for the blade` to cool unequally or toWarp,' and its exposure to theair before the blow is of such exceedinglyshort duration that no objectionable action can occur.

anvil, and in order' to prevent dispiacere Lierse@ When one blade isreleased :from the heateranother blade is disengaged frcs, thejmagazine-by the transferrer and descends into the heater just after the"ton 33 returns to operative position, se 1 while there are blades inthe'magazine operationof the -apparatus is autora; each blade `beingsubjectedzto the same gree'of heat,l for the same length of tire andevery blade receives a blow from l hammer equal in strcn'gthto the blowlivered uponevery other blade. Thus heating is uniform, and the coolingist. e.. unifo'rin,"for.each and every blade, and thereby all the bladeswill be tempered ein actly alike.

`Whenthe hot blade shoots onto the arvi 53 its momentum tends to carryit across y and to properly position the blade l pro- Avide a blade-stop83, located at vthe lside of the anvil opposite the mouth of the.raceway 4:7 and projecting' above the top 'of vthe anvil, and'preferably this blade-stop is made of wood. 'I prefer wood, as l hnd byexperience that the elasticity of the wood vacts upon the light bladewith just about the right torce to throw the blade back, by its rebound,to substantially the center of the anvil, in the best position toreceive the b low'of the hammer.

Any suitable means may beemployed to remove or clear the4 cooled bladefrom the anvil, and herein I have provided for such removal by means ofintermittent blasts of lag; air delivered tlirough. the apertures Si,Fig.

l, ot ahorizontal chamber v located at vthe back of the anvil andconnected by pipe SG with a suitable source of compressed air (notshown). The admission of the air to the chamber 85 is controlled by asuitable valve at 87, its stem being acted upon by a spring 88, Figi l,to normally close the valve, the stem having an attached finger 89vterminating in a pivoted spring tip 90 in;

lying inthe path oit' a pin 9]. on the hammer. 4Vl/'hen the hammerdescends the pin 9i 'wipes over and passes under the tip 90,.the

latteryielding on the down-stroke, and when ythe hammer rises the pinacts upon the tip to swing the finger 89 upward, opening the valve tocause an air blast to blow across the face of the anvil and clear thecooled blade therefrom. As the hammercontinues. to rise the pin 9lfisdrawn up i out of engagement with the tip 90 and the spring 88immediately returns the linger to normal position, closingy the valveand stopping the air' blast.

Such a formv of trip valve is not novel, 3.25 so far .as l am aware,/and is not claimed per se, and any other suitable means fordeliveringintermittent air blasts to cleat` the cooled blade from theanvil may be used.

Various changes or modifications may be 13o menacel made in differentldetails 'of construction, operation and arrangement by those skilled inthe art without departing from the splrit `and scope of my invention asset forth in the appended claims.

Having fully described my invention,

' what I claim as new and desire to secure'by receive at its upper endone by one the objects to beheated, means t'o temporarily supporttheobject in the lower part of the passage and to release the object at theend of a predetermined period, and means to raise the temperature ofthepassage by the action of a heating medium upon the exterior oftherheater. f

3. In apparatus for tempering blades, a

magazine to receive a series of blades placedface to face, areciprocating transferrer to engage the leading blade of the series andremove it from'the magazine, a raceway through which the transferredblade passes by gravity, a metallic heater having an uprlght passagetherethrough communicating with the lower end of the raceway, means tomaintain the passage at a high temperature by the action of a heatingmedium to the exterior of the heater, a blade-'arrester totemporarilyarrest each blade within the passage as it passes thereto from theraceway, an in-- .clined raceway leading from the bottom of the passage,and a .cooling instrumentality comprising an anvil and a' coperatingreciprocating hammer, and means to maintain the anvil and hammer cold,the hot blade released from the passage sliding down the inclinedraceway onto the lface of the anvil, to receive the blow of the hammer.

4. In apparatus for tempering blades, a magazine to receive a series ofblades placed face to face, a reciproca'tin transfer-rer to engage theleading blade o the series and remove it from the magazine', a racewaythrough whichv the transferred blade passes by gravity, a` metallicheater having an upv right passage therethrough communicating with thelower end of the raceway', means to maintain the passage at a hightemperature by4 the action of'a heating medium to the eX- ter'ior ofthel heater, a blade-arrester to temporarily arrest` each bladewithn thepassage as it passes `thereto from'the raceway, any inclined racewayleading from the bottom of the passage, and a cooling instrumentality`to act upon a hot blade delivered from the raceway, saidinstrumentality. comprising two relatively movable, continuously cooledmetallic members to receive between them the hot blade and subject it topressure and cooling simultaneously. Y

5. In apparatus for tempering blades, a magazine to receive a series ofblades yplaced face to face, a reciprocating transferrer to engagetheleading blade or .the series and? remove it from the magazine, araceway through which they transferred blade .passesl by gravity, ametallic heater having an upright passage therethrough communicatingwith the lower end of the raceway, means to maintain thepassage at ahigh temperature by the action of a heating medium to the exterior ofthe heater, a, blade-'arrester to temporarily arrest each blade ywithinthe passage as it passes thereto from the race- Way, an inclined racewayleading from the bottom of the passage, anda cooling-instrumentalitytoact upon a hot blade delivered` from the raceway, said instrumentalitycomprising two Vcontinuously cooled members one of which is movedintermittingly with a hammer4blow against the other,vto' subject the hotblade between themto pressure and cooling simultaneously.

6. In apparatus for temperingv blades, means toreceive and heat theblades singly, a raceway to conduct 'by gravity ythe hot 10o blades fromsaid heating means, a continuously cooled metallic anvil upon which thehot blades are delivered lfrom said raceway, a contlnuously cooledhammer, means to raise it, a latchto maintain it elevated,'a 105.

spring to move the hammer downward upon the-anvil to 'deliver aquick,sharp blow, and a device to intermittingly act upon and withdraw thelatch from coperation with the hammer.

7, In apparatus for tempering blades, means to receive and heat theblades singly, a racewa'y to conduct by gravity the hot blades from saidheating means, a continuously cooled metallic anvil upon which the hotblades are delivered from said raceway,

a continuously cooled hammer, a spring to move it downward with a quickblow upon the anvil, means to lift the hammer andv thereafter stretchthe spring, a latch to hold the hammer lifted, and a device to 'retractthe latch automatically when the spring has been stretched.

8. In apparatus for tempering blades, means to heat' the blades onebyone while 125 protecting them from contact'with the heat'- ing medium,means to subject the hot blades to simultaneous cooling and rapidcompresfsion, a device to deliver the hot blades one by one to saidcooling and `compressing reciprocating, continuously cooled hammer vtetodeliver a blow-upon a hot blade upon the anvil, ,an'inclined racewayhavingits mouth at one side of thefanvil, the hot blades sliding downthe racewayzand lout of its mouth entev the anvil, and a stop at theopposite side of the latterto stop the-movement of .properly positionyit thereupon. p

ll. ln apparatus for tempering blades, a metallic anvil having ahorizontal face, a reci rocating, continuously cooled hammer to `dlivera blow upon a hot blade upon the anvil, an inlinedraceway having itsmouth atene side of the anvil, the hot blades sliding down the racen/ayand out of its mouth onto the anvil, and a Wooden block at the oppositeside of the anvil, to stop the movenient of the .blade and by rebound'thereof position it 'upon the anvil to receive the blow of the hammer.

A cl2. ln apparatus for tempering blades,

heating means, comprising a covered chamber ,to contain the heatingmedium, a metallicblock constituting a heater and having ablade-passage' through it, said heater being set in the chamber with theupper end of the passage above the closed top thereof, the

a .bladey as it slides across the anvilarnil- Liensse bottom pt saidchamber having an opening registering with the lower end of the passage,anda blade-arrester movable into and out of the passage at right anglesthereto, the blades passing lengthwise down the pas sage and beingarrested temporarily therein to acquire thel requisite temperature,co1nbined .with automatic means to deliver blades singly to the upperend of the passage. 1

13. ln apparatus for tempering blades, heating means, comprising acovered chamber to contain the heating medium, a -metallic blockconstituting a heater and having a bladepassage through it, said heaterbeing set in thevchamber with the upper end of the passa-ge above theclosed top thereof, the bottoni ofsaid chamber having an openingregistering v'ith the lower end of the passage, and avblade`arrestermovable into and out of the passage atright anglesthereto,`

the blades passing lengthwise down the passage and being arrestedtemporarily therein to acquire' the requisite temperature, coinV binedwith means to deliver blades one by one to the upper' end of thepassage,` 'and mechanism to actuate the blade-arrester and retract it atpredetermined intervals and immediately return it to arresting position,each heated blade being released by said arrester ,and the latter'returning to arresting position ."beiore the next blade is deliveredto' the passage in the heater.

ln testimony'vvhereot, l have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence or two subscribing witnesses.

RCHARD T. WINN. Witnesses: t

JOHN C. EDWARDS,

Tetonas JDRUMMOND.

